In 2013 we celebrated our 500th anniversary as a city. If you missed it, that’s a great shame, as it was spectacular but we’re still celebrating! The gala, entitled “Crisoles de 500 soles”, was considered one of the greatest events of the past 2 decades in Cuba. Over 700 artists gathered to decorate the city; many of these designs are still visible today, as we continue our homage to those 500 years of our city’s existence. The founding of the San Salvador Village over 500 years ago is an important part of Cuba’s history and also for anyone who lives in what we today call the New World of the United States and the whole Americas. The bedrock of the Americas resides in our city and we hope you’ll come to see us and feel the history.

When the Europeans arrived, Bayamo was a large Aboriginal community, and Spanish troops settled in Bayamo about a year and a half before the foundation of the San Salvador de Bayamo Village which was officially established in 1513. The village grew, its center forever shifting over time but, always maintaining a similar geographic location into, what we now call, just “Bayamo”